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Heat 5 of Robot Wars: Series 8 was the fifth and final heat which determined the finalists of Robot Wars:Series 8. The episode featuring Heat 5 was originally broadcast on 21st August 2016 on BBC Two.

The episode's original broadcast on BBC Two managed to attract 1.85 million viewers in the first week, an increase of 990,000 viewers when compared with the previous episode. By twenty-eight days, it managed to reach 2 million viewers. According to BARB, this meant it ranked seventeenth in the top thirty highest rated BBC Two broadcasts, between Highlands: Scotland's Wild Heart and highlights of the 2016 Rio Games.

Chompalot chased Ironside3 into Shunt’s CPZ straight away, who escaped as Thermidor 2 pinned Chompalot against Shunt, trying to flip it. Shunt struck Chompalot several times with his axe, damaging its self-righting wings before pushing and throwing it out of his CPZ, causing one of its panels to fly off. Meanwhile, Thermidor 2 sat on the opposite side of the arena, having lost drive to one side after taking a hit from Ironside3’s blade, and eventually tried to flip Chompalot again, but failed. Chompalot shoved Thermidor 2 into the wall, grabbing hold of it as it pushed the lobster-shaped robot into Shunt, who axed Thermidor 2’s wheel as Chompalot bit into one of its claws. As this happened, Ironside3 slammed twice into the side of Chompalot, then charged into the rear of Pulsar, damaging one of the newcomer’s wheels and immobilising it on one side.

Thermidor 2 smokes

Ironside3 rips one of Chompalot's side panels off

Chompalot pushes an immobile Pulsar

Chompalot almost backs into the pit

Chompalot pushed Thermidor 2 into another empty CPZ, who by then became completely immobilised - despite its flipper still working - and was left smoking close to the arena wall. Ironside3 then hit Chompalot, buckling its chassis and ripping off one of its side panels on impact. Another hit dislodged Chompalot’s jaw, then Chompalot ran straight into Pulsar’s drum, causing more damage to itself as it pushed Pulsar around in circles, before straying into Shunt once again. Ironside3 slammed into the pit release button, and Chompalot almost backed into the opened Pit itself, before attempting to push Pulsar down as the battle ended. The fight went to the judges, who unanimously voted for Ironside3 and a heavily-damaged Chompalot.

Gabriel immediately charged at Crazy Coupe 88, slamming down onto it, while Beast failed with an attempted flip on Infernal Contraption. Gabriel then made its way over towards Beast, which flicked it away. Gabriel thrust down onto Infernal Contraption, and Beast flipped Crazy Coupe 88 through the air.

"The rusty and rustic robot - built in a shed - flipped there by Beast."

— Jonathan Pearce

Gabriel axes Infernal Contraption

Gabriel went after Beast again, which pushed it backwards, while Crazy Coupe 88 drove into Dead Metal, with the House Robot ramming it against the arena wall and causing sparks, immobilising Crazy Coupe 88 in the process. Gabriel came in with a slam on Crazy Coupe 88 and then another on Infernal Contraption.

"Good control by Beast; lacking protection, but it is causing damage."

— Jonathan Pearce

Dead Metal cuts into Crazy Coupe 88

Infernal Contraption reverses into the pit

Beast forced Infernal Contraption onto the flame pit, which then activated the pit release button. Infernal Contraption then rode up the front of Beast, before reversing off of it and toppling down into the pit.

Due to the severe damage it sustained from its Group Battle, Chompalot almost withdrew from the competition before this fight began. However, with encouragement from Team Storm's Ed Hoppitt, and assistance from fellow roboteers including Team Terror Turtle, David Weston, Clive Brown, Team Storm and Gabriel's builders, Team Saint, Chompalot was fully repaired in time for the first Head-to-Head battle.

Gabriel immediately axes Chompalot

Both machines charged straight into each other in the opening seconds, with Gabriel axing Chompalot with its sword, and Chompalot trying to grab hold of Gabriel’s body with its jaws. However, this attack lifted Chompalot’s wheels off the arena floor, allowing Gabriel to push it into Dead Metal’s CPZ, with a slam from Dead Metal helping to turn Chompalot onto its side against the wall. Gabriel escaped and pressed the pit release button as Dead Metal slammed and broke more panels off of Chompalot, before axing the battered robot, re-righting it and allowing Chompalot to escape the CPZ, albeit with only one wheel still working.

"Chompalot, against the arena wall, pinned between, ooh, an axe and a hard place!"

— Pearce as Gabriel axes the stricken Chompalot

Chompalot is flipped by the Floor Flipper

Chompalot tried biting down on Gabriel’s swinging sword as the two robots met again in the middle of the arena. It got underneath one of Gabriel’s wheels, tipping it onto its side and sending it careering across the Flame Pit and into Dead Metal. Gabriel escaped, and the two machines continued pushing and attacking each other until Chompalot drove onto the Floor Flipper, where it was flung across the arena and skidded to a halt near the wall, again on its side. Unable to self-right, Chompalot began to smoke as Shunt closed in to attack its underside, before cease was called.

Chompalot's LiPo pours smoke

Chompalot catches fire after the battle is over

Chompalot continued smoking copiously during Angela Scanlon’s post-battle interview, before its battery ignited, engulfing the robot in flames for three minutes before it was extinguished and taken outside the warehouse by members of the production crew.

"It’s gone - bang, poof, there’s smoke and there’s fire! It’s what dragons are supposed to do, but not in that way."

— Debs Cook on Chompalot’s post-match fire

As Chompalot was now too badly damaged to continue, it withdrew from the series after this fight, and the judges selected Pulsar as its replacement.

Ironside3 immediately avoided Beast as it got its spinning blade up to speed, before it hit Beast’s flipper and was pushed into the wall, stopping its blade. The two robots separated, with Beast chasing Ironside3 around the arena and colliding head-on with Ironside3 twice more, before circling around each other once again and exchanging a few more hits, with Ironside3 causing sparks and gashes in Beast’s exoskeleton, and Beast momentarily getting in underneath Ironside3 at one point. However, one of Beast's wheels locked up after this, causing it to lose drive on one side. Ironside3 briefly stopped on the arena floor as well, but moved towards Beast for another attack, striking one of its exposed wheels with its blade and damaging its rim, hampering Beast's mobility even more.

"We warn you and we warn you – do not come into the Robot Wars arena with exposed tyres!"

— Jonathan Pearce after Ironside3 shreds Beast’s wheel

Ironside3 deflects off the immobilised Beast

Despite narrowly avoiding the Floor Flipper, Ironside3 landed a few more blows on Beast, eventually immobilising it completely by puncturing the damaged tyre. Beast fired its flipper several times to try and show signs of mobility, but this was in vain, as it was counted out shortly after this attack. Following the battle, Professor Sethu Vijayakumar said that he was particularly impressed with Ironside3’s precision and tactics here.

For this battle, Team Saint decided to use their 'battle axe' in an attempt to jam the spinning bar of Ironside3.

Ironside3 collides with Gabriel

Gabriel trundled after Ironside3, which backed away immediately to get its weapon up to speed. Ironside3 came in on an attack, shredding some rubber from one of Gabriel's wheels. Ironside3 drove at Gabriel again, causing it to go over the top of Ironside3.

"So far, Ironside3, the most impressive machine we've seen."

— Jonathan Pearce

Gabriel flies through the air after a hit from Ironside3

Gabriel made its way to Ironside3, with contact causing another chunk of rubber to be sent flying. Ironside3 circled Gabriel - which was spinning on the spot - before clipping the wheel of Gabriel. Gabriel then hung too close to Sir Killalot, and the House Robot moved Gabriel onto the flame pit. Sir Killalot lifted Gabriel up with its lance, with Gabriel bouncing away. Gabriel slammed down as Ironside3 came in with another attack, causing the battle axe to flex to the side momentarily. Ironside3 continued to attack Gabriel, but then drove over the flame pit as more bits of rubber began to droop from Gabriel's wheels. The next attack from Ironside3 thrust Gabriel in towards Sir Killalot.

Ironside3 slams into Gabriel again

"Killalot has Gabriel in its grip. And suddenly, it looks like a giant, white, dying swan."

— Jonathan Pearce

Gabriel escaped the claw of the House Robot, but then got its weapon caught in the flame pit after another attack from Ironside3. Sir Killalot freed Gabriel, with Ironside3 then coming in with another attack, causing the wheels of Gabriel to quiver. With time ticking down, Ironside3 hit Gabriel with two more assaults, before cease was called.

Following its reinstatement as Chompalot’s substitute, this battle marked Pulsar’s first appearance in this stage of the competition, having survived the longest and being the more impressive of the two losing robots in its Group Battle.

Beast misses a flip

Beast is immobilised by a pair of hits from Pulsar

Both robots started tentatively, with Beast nudging Pulsar and trying to position itself for a flip. Beast flipped itself, however, dodging Sir Killalot and Pulsar as the two machines gathered together again near the wall. Pulsar slammed into Beast and got its drum up to speed, but Beast began to suffer drive problems again as it was sluggish getting away following this contact. Pulsar got underneath Beast and used its drum to strike its wheel and underside in rapid succession, launching Beast into the air and immobilising it completely. Pulsar won by knock-out, securing the three points necessary for it to remain in contention for a Heat Final place. However, it was later revealed that Pulsar had suffered intermittent drive problems throughout the battle, although these were not significant enough to prevent it from taking victory.

For this battle, Gabriel reverted to its sword in order to attack Beast’s exposed tyres, and started by running straight over Beast’s flipper and axing Beast several times. These blows appeared to immobilise Beast straight away, with Gabriel retreating for the pit release button and crossing the Flame Pit to strike Beast a few more times. Beast spun in circles, having lost drive in one of its wheels again, as Gabriel moved away, spinning and raising its sword in an attempt to signal the end of its attack.

However, Team Beast insisted on Team Saint attacking their defeated machine, to which Craig Colliass reluctantly obliged by charging Gabriel straight into Beast and landing a few more blows. Gabriel withdrew its attacks again, and both machines spun away from each other. Gabriel tried to edge Beast towards the pit, but could not push it properly, and cease was called. Dead Metal finished the fight by coming out of its CPZ and slicing into Beast’s flipper after cease was called, causing several sparks to fly in the process.

Dead Metal slices into Beast

"We felt that Beast had actually been immobilised, and it didn’t seem proper for us to continue any gratuitous violence just for the sake of it."

The battle went to the Judges, who declared that Beast had become immobilised for more than ten seconds after losing drive to its wheel. As a result, they awarded Gabriel victory and the full three points for a knockout instead of the usual two, securing its place in the Heat Final.

Both machines avoided each other in the opening seconds as they got their weapons up to speed. This was until Ironside3 and Pulsar collided head-on, with Pulsar’s drum flipping Ironside3 into the air and onto its back. Ironside3’s self-righting arm did not appear to work immediately, allowing Pulsar to cause more damage with its drum and push it into Sir Killalot as Ironside3 tried to re-right itself.

"Just think they’re trying to get up and over, but they’re into Sir Killalot now and this could be the end of Ironside3!"

— Jonathan Pearce anticipates Ironside3’s demise

Sir Killalot assists Ironside3

The battle continues after Ironside3 is righted

Ironside3 was assailed by Pulsar and Sir Killalot, with its srimech eventually fully opened as Sir Killalot grabbed hold of it with his claw and re-righted it. Pulsar immediately gave chase to Ironside3, striking it once more with its drum, before Ironside3 ran away and activated the pit release button. At this point, Pulsar appeared to lose drive on one side again, and became immobilised completely as Ironside3 slammed into it. Ironside3 slowly pushed Pulsar into the pit, only to fall in itself as well.

"Pulsar – is there movement in Pulsar? I don’t think so! And I think… Goodness me, what a battle this has been! Slowly, slowly, inch by inch… OH! They’ve taken themselves out!"

— Pearce reacts as Pulsar lays immobile and Ironside3 falls into the pit with it

Ironside3 follows Pulsar into the pit after pushing it in

As both robots fell into the pit at the same time, the battle again went to a judges’ decision. However, the judges ruled that as a result of not being able to self-right properly after the initial hit by Pulsar, Ironside3 was immobile for more than ten seconds. Therefore, they awarded Pulsar victory, three points and the second Heat Final place. Team Outlaw were noticeably frustrated with the decision following this battle.

Adam Lewis: "No, we slammed against a wall, I’m trying to self-right and then they go, “You’re out!” I don’t know."

Trevor Wright: "And before we got a chance, the House Robot [Sir Killalot] came in and he picked us up then dropped us, and we happened to land on our wheels, and nobody called ‘Cease’, so we carried on. But… that’s the way it goes, I suppose."

Gabriel charged at Pulsar, tipping over as it ran up Pulsar’s front wedge and spun around. Pulsar darted around and underneath Gabriel, shredding part of one of its tyres and launching it into the air again before Gabriel hit the arena floor several times with its sword. It struggled to line up another attack, however, spinning underneath Gabriel’s body and receiving a blow from its sword before it finally tore into one of Gabriel’s wheels and flicked it over again. Another few slams sent Gabriel balancing on its side, but Pulsar suddenly stopped moving near the pit release button. Pulsar kicked back into life a few seconds later, reversing into Sir Killalot before again knocking Gabriel onto its side, damaging another tyre section and allowing it to career into Sir Killalot. Sir Killalot chased and momentarily held Gabriel in his grasp, before Gabriel escaped and hammered Pulsar as it stopped for a second time and before it was pushed onto the Flame Pit by Sir Killalot.

Gabriel punishes Pulsar's brief inactivity

Pulsar started moving again, then stopped, receiving more blows from Gabriel’s sword as it lay immobile, then kicked back into life a third time before the ten-second limit was reached. The two robots continued to exchange blows between each other for the remainder of the battle, with Gabriel’s sword continuing to hammer Pulsar’s body and drum, while Pulsar’s drum tore more sections off of Gabriel’s tyres, sending one piece of tread flying towards an overhead camera.

Pulsar tears off a chunk of rubber from one of Gabriel's tyres, which goes flying towards the camera

Gabriel is caught off guard by the Floor Flipper with seconds to go in the battle

Gabriel was momentarily flipped by the Floor Flipper and tipped onto its side again before ‘cease’ was called, and the fight went to the judges. The judges unanimously voted for Pulsar, though the presenters and both teams agreed that it had been a close and well-fought battle.

"It was an epic and truly bizarre battle - it looked like an angry ferret fighting a giraffe for large sections of it."

Despite the lack of seedings or reference to the previous series, all five heats of Series 8 featured a semi-finalist from the Seventh Wars. In Heat 5, it was Thermidor 2.

Newcomer Pod was originally intended to compete in this heat, but was forced to withdraw due to being overweight, and was replaced with Pulsar, which had previously withdrawn from an earlier heat.

The first melee sees Thermidor 2 in a first-round melee with Chompalot for the second time, after they met in the Sixth Wars, and also their second time in a first-round melee with Team Mouse in a row.

This heat was the first in Robot Wars to see a robot substitute the position of a retired robot after it had fought more than one battle, when Pulsar replaced Chompalot during the head-to-head round.

The Heat Final was the only one of the series to go to a Judges' decision, and also the only Heat Final between two robots that had never fought each other. The Heat Final was also the only one of the series to feature two newcomers.

The Gabriel vs Beast and Pulsar vs Ironside3 battles were filmed in the opposite order to how they were aired. This explains why Team Gabriel were told with confidence that they needed to defeat Beast via KO in order to qualify, as Ironside3 had confirmed its position of 5 points at the time, while Pulsar had 6.